Description
 
Yixing Zisha Base Clay ChingYun Teapot
 
This teapot is fully handmade using zisha base clay ( 底槽清 ) and features an elegant pear shape, as well as a “shark skin” texture on the surface.
 
This teapot holds approximately 180ml (+/- 5ml) and features a ball filter and tight-fitting lid. The walls of this teapot are relatively thin, but it allows for a very stable and comfortable hand feel that has to be experienced to fully appreciate. It also includes a certificate from the artist indicating the artist’s name, teapot shape and clay composition.
 
Zisha (‘purple sand’) describes the reddish-brown color of the sedimentary soil which settled in ancient lakes and is now buried deep underground. The clay is compressed under heavy sedimentary rock formations throughout the Yixing region, southwest of Shanghai, in China’s Jiangsu province. Huanglong Mountain near Dingshu township has been the source of high quality purple clay ore for centuries. The mountain itself is rather ordinary – neither grand or pretty – but it is 350 million years old.
These teapots are prized because their unglazed surfaces absorb traces of the beverage and develop a patina, which enhances the taste, color and aroma of fine tea.